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Phala

PHA · Field entry
AIAIInfrastructurePrivacy

A confidential cloud that runs AI agents and models inside hardware enclaves

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$0.05714.58%Snapshot · October 20, 2026 · updates live
Market cap
$49.04M
24h volume
$60.34M
Rank
#468
Circulating
858.20M PHA
Max supply
1.00B PHA
All-time high
$1.39 May 14, 2021

PHA price chart

7-day snapshot. Chart data from CoinGecko.

What is Phala?

Phala runs a cloud service where AI agents, language models and other software execute inside trusted execution environments, so the operator cannot see the data and users can check what code ran. It began as a Polkadot parachain in 2021 and moved its token, staking and governance to Ethereum in late 2025. PHA is used for staking, governance and as collateral for GPU providers.

Utility Lens

What Phala actually does

Rents out confidential CPU and GPU machines so teams can run AI workloads on sensitive data and prove what code handled it.

Real-world usage
growingThe confidential cloud is a live paid product with published GPU pricing, though user figures come from the company.
Token necessity
optionalCustomers pay for compute per GPU hour; PHA matters for staking, governance and GPU-provider collateral rather than for using the cloud.
Decentralization
limitedThe main product is a commercial cloud run by the Phala company, while token staking and governance now sit on an Ethereum layer 2.
Track record
provenThe Khala parachain launched in July 2021; in 2025 researchers demonstrated an SGX attack on Phala, and the project retired its parachain to move to Ethereum.

How we rate

What it’s used for

Developers deploy Docker-based apps, AI agents or private model endpoints to Phala Cloud and receive attestation reports showing the enclave and code that ran. Cloud customers are billed per GPU hour, so they do not need PHA. Token holders stake PHA to receive vPHA, which is used for governance and is required collateral for GPU mining.

Role of the PHA token:

staking securitygovernancecollateral

Evidence of real use

  • Phala's documentation says staking PHA yields vPHA, which is used for governance, staking on Phala L2 and as required collateral for GPU mining. Source
  • Phala says its 2025 platform paired Intel TDX protection on the processor with NVIDIA's GPU confidential computing mode, and that it donated its dstack toolkit to the Linux Foundation. Source
  • Phala's site says the service is trusted by more than 5,000 users. Source

The AI angle

AI role
compute marketplace
What actually happens
Phala sells confidential CPU and GPU capacity for AI training, inference and autonomous agents, with hardware attestations that prove what code ran. Its private model endpoints are compatible with OpenAI's API. Customers pay for compute directly, while PHA secures and governs the provider side.

AI crypto, explained

Privacy: what’s hidden, what isn’t

Privacy model
app-level
What it hides
The code, memory, keys and data of workloads running inside Phala's confidential machines, including prompts sent to its private AI models.
What stays visible
PHA and vPHA transfers on Ethereum and Phala's layer 2, which are ordinary public token movements, plus the attestation reports Phala publishes for each workload.
Reality check
Protection rests on Intel and NVIDIA hardware and on trusting those vendors' attestation; the 2025 Wiretap researchers broke SGX on Phala with physical access to a machine. PHA is not a privacy coin; Kraken lists it, though Coinbase does not.

Privacy coins, explained

How Phala works

A trusted execution environment, or TEE, is a locked area of a processor that keeps code and data encrypted even from whoever owns the server. Phala rents out machines with these protections: Intel TDX on the CPU side and NVIDIA's confidential computing mode on GPUs. Developers ship a normal Docker Compose app, and Phala starts it inside a confidential virtual machine.

Each workload can produce an attestation, a signed hardware report showing which code is running and that it sits in a genuine enclave. Phala's AI products build on this: private language model endpoints, sandboxes for AI agents whose keys never leave the enclave, and rentable H100, H200 and B300 GPUs. The open-source dstack toolkit that powers deployments is now governed by the Linux Foundation.

The token side changed in 2025. Phala's old Polkadot parachain relied on roughly 29,000 SGX miners, but the company says Intel's roadmap had moved on to TDX and GPU enclaves, leaving SGX as declining technology. Holders approved retiring the parachain, and PHA now lives mainly as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and Phala's layer 2, where staking it produces vPHA for governance and GPU-provider collateral.

Key moments

  1. 2021Phala launches Khala, its first parachain on Kusama, after a community crowdloan.
  2. 2025Phala rebrands to phala.com in September and ships confidential GPU machines combining Intel TDX with NVIDIA confidential computing.
  3. 2025The Wiretap research team demonstrates an SGX attack on Phala and other enclave-based networks.
  4. 2025The Phala parachain is sunset in November and PHA, staking and governance move to Ethereum and Phala's layer 2.

Supply

PHA has a fixed total supply of 1 billion tokens. Phala's documentation says 70% of the total is set aside for mining rewards paid to compute providers over time. PHA is now an ERC-20 token, and staking it mints vPHA, a separate token used for governance and collateral.

Risks to understand

  • Enclave security can fail: the 2025 Wiretap research showed that physical access to an SGX server could defeat its protections, and similar hardware attacks could affect newer TEEs.
  • Cloud customers do not need PHA, so the token's value depends on staking, governance and GPU-provider demand rather than direct product use.
  • The service is run by one company, so its business decisions shape the network, and user figures are self-reported.
  • The 2025 migration from Polkadot left some holders needing to claim or move old tokens, and lookalike PHA contracts exist, so check addresses carefully.

Phala FAQ

Is Phala an AI coin or a privacy coin?

Mostly AI infrastructure. Phala sells confidential computing for AI workloads; the privacy comes from secure hardware, and PHA transfers themselves are public.

Do I need PHA to use Phala Cloud?

No. Cloud customers pay for compute directly; PHA is used for staking, governance and as collateral for GPU providers.

What happened to the Phala parachain?

It was sunset in November 2025, and PHA now exists mainly on Ethereum and Phala's layer 2.

Sources

  1. Get PHA and transfer — Phala Documentation
  2. Compute providers introduction (tokenomics) — Phala Documentation
  3. Phala 2025: Year in Review — Phala
  4. Confidential AI Cloud — Phala
  5. Phala Network is Here, Bringing Secure Decentralized Cloud Processing — Business Wire
  6. WireTap: Breaking Server SGX via DRAM Bus Interposition — WireTap research team
  7. Phala Network (PHA) price page — Coinbase
  8. Changes to PHA (Phala) support on Kraken — Kraken

Last reviewed October 20, 2026. Written by . Utility Lens ratings are editorial judgments, not investment advice. Market data from CoinGecko. Spot an error? Request a correction.

About the author

Dave McNaught has worked in IT since 1999 and founded All Business Technologies (ABT) in 2003, a Boston-area firm providing Managed IT, Cybersecurity, Managed AI, Web Design and App Development. He publishes The Crypto Guide.

Full bio